Effect of Microstructure on Joint Strength of Fe/Al Resistance Spot Welding for Multi-Material Components

Abstract:

The effects of welding conditions such as the electrode type and welding current were investigated on the microstructure and joint strength of the resistance weld of A5052 and GA590. The reaction layer formed at the joint interface was inferred to consist of Fe-Al based intermetallic compounds (IMCs) which are FeAl, FeAl₂, Fe₂Al₅ and FeAl₃ by quantitative analysis. Although the thickness of the IMCs layer decreased from the center of the nugget towards the edge of it. When the DR type electrode was used, the cross tensile force became higher than those of the joints formed with the R type one. This is because the thickness of the reaction layer formed at the nugget end of A5052 was thin in the case of the DR type electrode. Also, it was found that cross tensile force increases when the thickness of the reaction layer is thin by multiple regression analysis.

• Periodical: Materials Science Forum (Volume 1016)
• Pages: 774-779
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.1016.774
• Online since: January 2021
• Authors: Koki Kumamoto*, Ikuo Shohji, Tatsuya Kobayashi, Muneyoshi Iyota
• Keywords: Al, Fe, Intermetallic Compounds, Joint Strength, Resistance Spot Welding

References

[1] T. Watanabe, Y. Doi, A. Yanagisawa, S. Konuma, Resistance spot welding of mild steel to Al-Mg alloy, Quarterly Journal of Japan Welding Society, 23 (2005) 491-495.

DOI: 10.2207/qjjws.23.491

[2] F.A. Mirza, A. Macwan, S.D. Bhole, D.L. Chen, X.-G. Chen, Effect of welding energy on microstructure and strength of ultrasonic spot welded dissimilar joints of aluminum to steel sheets, Materials Science & Engineering A, 668 (2016) 73–85.

DOI: 10.1016/j.msea.2016.05.040

[3] Z. Ye, J. Huang, Z. Cheng, W. Gao, Y. Zhang, S. Chen, J. Yang, Combined effects of MIG and TIG arcs on weld appearance and interface properties in Al/steel double-sided butt welding-brazing, Journal of Materials Processing Tech., 250 (2017) 25-34.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2017.07.003

[4] H. M. Rao, J. Kang, L. Shi, D. R. Sigler, B. E. Carlson, Effect of specimen configuration on fatigue properties of dissimilar aluminum to steel resistance spot welds, International Journal of Fatigue, 116 (2018) 13-21.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2018.06.009

[5] H. Geng, L. Sun, G. Li, J. Cui, L. Huang, Zhidan Xu, Fatigue fracture properties of magnetic pulse welded dissimilar Al-Fe lap joints, International Journal of Fatigue, 121 (2019) 146-154.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2018.12.027

[6] T. Sapanathan, N. Jimenez-Mena, I. Sabirov, M.A. Monclús, J.M. Molina-Aldareguía, P. Xia, L. Zhao, A. Simar, A new physical simulation tool to predict the interface of dissimilar aluminum to steel welds performed by friction melt bonding, Journal of Materials Science & Technology, 35 (2019) 2048-2057.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2019.05.004

[7] S.Y. Anaman, H.-H. Cho, H. Das, J.-S. Lee, S.-T. Hong, Microstructure and mechanical/ electrochemical properties of friction stir butt welded joint of dissimilar aluminum and steel alloys, Materials Characterization, 154 (2019) 67-79.

DOI: 10.1016/j.matchar.2019.05.041

[8] C. Chen, L. Kong, M. Wang, A. S. Haselhuhn, D. R. Sigler, H. P. Wang, B. E. Carlson, The robustness of Al-steel resistance spot welding process, Journal of Manufacturing Process, 43 (2019) 300-310.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jmapro.2019.02.030

[9] J. Chen, Z. Feng, H. P. Wang, B. E. Carlson, T. Brown, D. Sigler, Multi-scale mechanical modeling of Al-steel resistance spot welds, Materials Science & Engineering A, 735 (2018) 145-153.

DOI: 10.1016/j.msea.2018.08.039

[10] T. Ogura, A. Hirose, Microstructural control of interface and mechanical properties in dissimilar metal joining between aluminum alloy and steel, Journal of The Japan Institute of Light Metals, 66 (2016) 503-511.

DOI: 10.2464/jilm.66.503

[11] J. Inoue, S. Miwa, T. Koseki, Fracture Toughness of Fe-Zn Intermetallic Compound Layer, Tetsu-to-Hagane, 100 (2014) 53-59.

DOI: 10.2355/tetsutohagane.100.383